5400 rpm 2.5 hard drives

I have been changing out platter drives on laptops for ssd drives and now I have a bunch of 5400 rpm platter drives of all sizes. What can I do to re-cycle these drives? Or are they just due for the trash can?

The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'

Ronald Reagan - 40th president of US (1911 - 2004)

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yup.. My brother spends his summers in St. Petersburg, Ru. and he tells me that govt corruption is rampant there too. I did manage to send him a dash cam and it did get to him. He say's people will jump on your car over there and claim you ran them over

The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'

Ronald Reagan - 40th president of US (1911 - 2004)

Stop hovering to collapse...Click to collapse...Hover to expand...Click to expand...

no trashcan.. that disks will have serious storage space.. unlike ssds..i would be tempted to get some usb connectors and use them as external harddisks.. if usb 2 lappies; spring is coming. and you can watch the grass grow..

I have been changing out platter drives on laptops for ssd drives and now I have a bunch of 5400 rpm platter drives of all sizes. What can I do to re-cycle these drives? Or are they just due for the trash can?

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Depends on how big your "bunch" is, but you may want to check out some youtube videos on gold reclamation.
Most everything nowadays which is socketed or connected (SATA connectors in your case) are gold plated.

I've got about 7 sata laptop drives plus a couple 2.5" ide's and 7 or 8 old 3.5" ide drives but to reclaim a few microns of gold plating on each drive will cost me more than the value of the gold when you consider the required materials to do the reclaim

The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'

Ronald Reagan - 40th president of US (1911 - 2004)

Stop hovering to collapse...Click to collapse...Hover to expand...Click to expand...

I've got about 7 sata laptop drives plus a couple 2.5" ide's and 7 or 8 old 3.5" ide drives but to reclaim a few microns of gold plating on each drive will cost me more than the value of the gold when you consider the required materials to do the reclaim

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Do you have any old junk motherboards ? Cards ?
The fingers in each and every slot and socket are also gold plated, and it does tend to add up quickly over time.
( the gold plating from "vintage" computer parts is considerably thicker )